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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00073 Apr 2004

 
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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha



According to the ramanuja sampradayam there are actually three tattvas. The 
tattvatraya vibhAgam has been clearly stated time and again by our dear 
geethacharyan also. The first step to divine knowledge is clearly understanding 
the three tattvas.



"kshEtrajgyam chApi mAm viththi sarvakshEtrEshu bhAratha I

kshEtra kshEtragyayOr jnAnam yat tat jnAnam matham mama" (13-2)



[Oh! the one born in the bharatha kula! Understand that I am the athma of both 
the sareeram (body) and the kshEtrajgyan, the jeevan. The chit and the achit 
(sareeram and jeevatma) are different and I am the athma to both and hence 
different from both of them. Understanding these three tattvas in the 
appropriate manner is my philosophy]



On understanding the three tattvas one starts to realise the supremacy of the 
divine lord. Once we understand his paratvam we try to get away from him 
considering him to be not reachable by us. But then the sastras and the words 
of azhvars come to our rescue by making us understand that he is sarva sulabhan 
though his is sarva sankalpan and sarva sakthan. Slowly getting involved with 
his kalyana gunas we start developing a bhakthi towards him. We may think, "Why 
didn't that bhakthi grow till today and what has been an hindrance to it?" 
GeethAcharyan answers,



"yO mAmajamanAdhim cha vEththi lOka mahEsvaram I

asammoodasa marthEshu sarvapApai: pramuchyathE II" (10-3)



He is the Ishvaran 'ajam' who is birthless, different from baddha jeevatmas, 
'anAdhim ajam' he has been birthless forever so different from the muktha 
jeevas, 'lOka mahesvaram' thereby he is different from the mukthAthmas also. In 
the above sloka, Lord Krishna says, "The jeeva who realises that I am different 
from all the chit and achit and that I am birthless for ever and that I am the 
supreme will get realised from all the sins that prevent the growth of bhakthi 
in his minds.



So as all the sins that has hindered our bhakthi is removed by emperuman, now 
we start involving ourselves in the divine kalyana gunas of bhagavan and 
immerse in bhakthi. This bhakthi develops in three stages, para bhakthi, para 
jnanam and parama bhakthi.



What is para bhakthi, para jnAnam and parama bhakthi?



The first stage of bhakthi is called as para bhakthi. Our poorvacharyas say 
that the first three thiruvandhAdhis of the mudal azhvars symbolise the three 
states of bhakthi. Poigaiazhvar started his prabhandam, "vayyam tagaliyA 
vArkadalE neiyAga vaiyya kadirON vilakkAga seyya sudarAzhi yAn adikkE sootinEn 
solmAlai edarAzhi neengugavE endru" This is para bhakthi, the state where 
azhvar realises the existence of other objects in the world and attributes the 
same to emperuman. This azhvar lights a lOka deepam. The second azhvar 
bhoodhaththAzhvar sings, "anbE tagaliyA ArvamE neiyAga enburugu sindhai edu 
thiriyA nanburugi jnAna sudar EttrinEn nAranarkku jnAna thamizh purindha nAn" 
This azhvar forgets about the world. Why should I search for emperuman 
elsewhere when he is very well inside me? So he lit a lamp with love as the 
lamp, his interest to see him as the ghee, his thoughts/mind as the wig, and 
thereby lit a jnAna deepam. This is the second step or para jnAnam. When the 
first two have lighted two lamps shouldn't the third azhvar also light a lamp? 
No he doesn't. His bhakyam is that in the brightness of the first two lamps lit 
by the first two azhvars he is able to see emperuman "thirukkandEn pon mEni 
kandEn thigazhum arukkan aniniramum kandEn serukkilarum ponnAzhi kandEn 
purisangam kai kandEn ennAzhi vannan pAl endru" This is the final state of 
parama bhakthi. So the bhakthi that slowly starts growing on listening to the 
kalyana gunas of emperuman finally reaches the state of parama bhakthi. This is 
the state attained by all the azhvars, "jnAnam kanindha bhakthi". On reaching 
this state we fully understand the relationship between emperuman and us. He is 
our father "endhai" calls thirumangai azhvar with great love.



Now that we have realised our relationship with the supreme lord/our dear 
father what will be our next reaction. What will a lost child who has found his 
father after a long time really do on seeing his father? Yes. Fall to his feet. 
Beg pardon for all the mistakes committed and pray for his support and love 
forever. But will the father ever think about the past instead he will say, 
"leave the past. Now that I have got you back I am filled with ecstasy so let 
us both cherish these moments of togetherness forever". Yes the lord is the one 
who feels more on the separation from the jeevatma for so long so he really 
cherishes the moment when even a single jeeva comes to his feet. So what 
happens next we will enjoy in the next posting.



(To be continued)



Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam



Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan









[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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